That is until Dubai decided it deserved that distinction even more, (given all the sky scrapers they have growing in the desert), and added a few more stories to one of their behemoth buildings to take the prize.

Nonetheless, Toronto still has its fair share of ‘tallness.’ The downtown corridor is filled with financial towers, office complexes and hotel/condos that reach ever upwards shutting out the sun and creating constant shade. Lately though, the building boom has given way to the outer reaches of T.O. Just draw a semi-circle east to west and the drive the perimeter. You’ll find even more construction reaching new heights as condos and apartments enter the game to see who wins when it comes to bigger and higher.

It’s all architectural vanity.

When I first moved to Southampton I felt overwhelmed by space. There isn’t a building in this town over four stories high. Which is good. At least the wind off the lake is not channeled through concrete and glass canyons. It is free to roam the streets in whatever direction it chooses. The sun and clouds are not hidden from sight. There is an openness that sets you free. No claustrophobia here. And wandering through this newfound open concept I got to thinking…”what is the tallest building in Southampton?”

Well, without the benefit of more facts, I’d say there’s a close competition between five structures. Structures being the operative word since three of them are just that…structures.

The two actual buildings are tall by virtue of their towers. The clock tower on the old Town Hall dominates High Street. You do have to look up at it. It appears head and shoulders above anything else ‘downtown’ (as they say).

There’s competition from the tower on the old,yellow-bricked Southampton Public School. It stands alone without much around it to compare to. And that makes it hard to judge it a winner. Besides, the modernity of the attached Bruce County Museum gives the school a level of distinction the others can’t match.

Then there’s the flagpole at the foot of High Street. We know for sure that it is a “tapered steel pole having a base diameter of 24 inches and a top diameter of 8 inches and a material thickness of ½ an inch.” This hollow pole stands 135 feet high and supports a flag that 25 feet by 50 feet! And if you consider that there is another 14 feet below ground “embedded in 44 yards of concrete” you have a reasonably impressive front-runner.

Looking off shore, one mile Southwest of the mouth of Southampton Harbour you can’t miss the Imperial Tower of the Chantry Island Lighthouse. Certainly older than The Flag, it was first lit on April Fool’s Day in 1895. Like the flagpole, it is hollow too,only you can walk the 115 narrow steps up into the light tower. That’s 80 feet from the base. The lighthouse sits 86 feet above the water level. Whether or not that makes it taller than the landlocked flagpole – I have no idea. But when you get up there and look landward, you definitely get the feeling that it is.

Nonetheless, both onshore and offshore, they are distinctive landmarks.

Less famous, ignored,standing tall away from the centre of it all, never ever talked about, but just as impressive is my personal favourite and in my opinion the winner in all of this – The Southampton Water Tower. I wish I had more numbers to back this up but I don’t.

All I go by is the fact that it is visible from the bottom of High Street. It sits big, blue, bold and without fanfare beside the Fire Hall overlooking Fairy Lake, the playground and the rest of the town. “Southampton” is painted in large white letters across the top. On the roof sit aerials and antennae adding to its height. Add the fact that it is located on a bit of a hill – and – I believe you have the tallest structure in Southampton.

What impresses me about The Water Tower is simply that it is what it is. Tourists ignore it. The locals don’t make a fuss about it.

River ice clogged the mouth of the Saugeen River and held a hapless deer hostage.

If you looked closely you could see the path the animal took as it swam across the river trying to escape from some dog that was chasing it. Obviously it panicked and jumped into the harbour believing this was its only way to safety. Unfortunately, with the frigid water, low temperatures and hard ice stretching from shore to shore it was the wrong decision.

Somehow it made it across, but at great cost.

It was exhausted. We weren’t sure how long it had been there. Hypothermia, no doubt, was well on its way. Wide-eyed with fear the creature struggled to climb the shore-ice but kept slipping back into the river. You could see its head bob up then disappear each time it tried to dig its hooves into the frozen river bank.

Saugeen Shores Police and Saugeen Fire and Rescue were there. Two of its members donned harnesses over their red survival suits. A long, red rescue line with a lasso at the end was played out. They approached the deer who had no idea what was happening. Easing themselves along the ice to the river-edge they tried to slip the loop over the floundering animal who had no intention of cooperating.

After two attempts the deer was pulled out of the water. It lay there shivering. Then tried to get up and run. Its flight instinct was still strong. The rescuers held it down as the other firefighters tied its front and hind legs. The men hovered close, covering the deer with their bodies, stroking it gently in a vain attempt to warm it and keep it calm.

There was no telling if it was a buck or doe, but it did look young.

The regional MNR man (Ministry of Natural Resources) was there. Seems the locals have a strong opinion of him. You can tell by everyone’s reaction to his presence that he’s not very popular. They loaded the deer into the bed of his truck. The two rescuers rode in back with it still trying to warm the deer with their bodies. No one thought of blankets.

Some of the locals called out to the MNR man wanting to know where he was taking the animal. There was no clear answer. Most of those there feared the worst.

It wasn’t until later, when we were having coffee in Port Elgin that we heard what happened. Seems as though they were getting the needles necessary to put the poor deer to sleep. Euthanasia!

No one in the coffee shop really knew how badly off the animal was. But no one was happy that after all it endured, it wasn’t enough to survive.

This blog is about my hometown and the simplicity of life that informs it. It will also digress, now and then, into things that catch my interest and stuff that influences my life. It is also a writing exercise. Pure indulgence on my part. Where did I come from? Lived in Toronto, Canada's biggest city. Lived in Sault Ste Marie, Hamilton, and Montreal as well. Moved to one of Ontario's smallest towns (Southampton). Worked as a Copywriter then Creative Director for large, international advertising agencies with experience all across Canada, New York, Chicago, L.A., London England and Hong Kong. Now I write as a hobby.
Enjoy!